City of St. Petersburg employees may receive monthly stipends to help pay rent

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - City of St. Petersburg employees who are required to live within city limits may be getting help paying the bills come this fall.

On Thursday, the St. Pete city council approved Mayor Ken Welch’s plan to set aside nearly $1.5 million to give its employees who make $48,000 a year or less a $500 a month stipend to go toward rent.   

There are 250 city employees required to live in the city as part of a union agreement, which was designed to hire more African American workers for the city in the 90s. However, rent has soared in St. Petersburg by more than 25% over the last year. 

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City of Tampa workers do not have a residency requirement – so Mayor Jane Castor’s office says they have no plans to do this on the other side of the bay.  

If approved with the final city budget, the program could start during the new fiscal year which starts in October.